


Personal Development

by AleksanteriAgitshev



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Lair of the Shadow Broker, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 20:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AleksanteriAgitshev/pseuds/AleksanteriAgitshev
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garrus and Shepard sort out some issues that bubble to the surface after reading the Shadow Broker's dossiers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Development

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spring_gloom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spring_gloom/gifts).



The Commander chuckled to himself as Liara was halfway to the communications console. Shepard looked down on Garrus with an amused smile, then pulled him up to his feet. They were both treated to an inspired impromptu performance as the Asari usurped the dead Yagh’s place.

“Well, well. Think we can talk her into getting a look at the Broker’s files?” Garrus quietly hummed as the two looked on at Liara, newly crowned galactic master of compromising data.

It was purely by accident that Shepard had walked over just then. Maybe Garrus didn’t hear him coming, too engrossed to notice. Or he didn’t react purposely as subtle encouragement. Shepard considered both as he read the archive’s overview:

 _Former C-Sec officer. Exceptional tactical and team-building skills. Leadership potential overshadowed by Shepard. Unlikely to fully develop under Shepard's command._

Garrus lingered on it for a moment, but said nothing. Not even his usual rumble of consideration. His plates, though, strained forward.

“So, do you think it’s true?” The Commander’s eyes scanned for any reaction.

“What does a brute like him know anyway.” Garrus’s fists tightened as he scrolled over the UI’s files. “How...my playlists?” He jabbed his second finger into the holo-console and the vid feed flickered out.

“Looks like the Broker had a backdoor into the Cerberus Network. Let’s hope he hasn’t gotten around to selling the biometric data of the crew yet.” Shepard decided not to press too hard, at first. It had taken a long time to get Garrus to really open up with anything too personal. Maybe this was related to their work, but the relationship to this point was a hard earned miracle. Turians don’t have the same views on fraternization as humans, but all bets were off when it came to one’s commanding officer. It was unthinkable.

“That’s one lead I’m content to let go. At least the mole’s information is ours now.” Garrus turned away, anxious to get back to the Normandy. Specifically the Weapons Bay.

 _That’s right. I ran Fire Team twice and we all came back. And everyone laughed at me for calibrating all the time, but the Thanix cannon destroyed that Collector ship in one shot! I don’t have anything to prove._

“You know, in all the tying up loose ends for the crew, and now for Liara, I remember I’ve got one myself.” Shepard looked up into the chaos of Hagalaz’s sky. As Garrus took a step forward, he turned his head to the right, intrigued. Somehow he knew just who the Commander was talking about, a fact which satisfied him even before he knew he was right.

“You mean Balak.” Garrus hit his open palm and his voice grew venomous. “We still owe him a round for Aaron Bowman.” Shepard was impressed he’d remembered the guard’s name who was murdered on X-57 as it plunged towards Terra Nova. Less enthusiastically, he thought about where Garrus planned on putting that round.

“Right. Only I haven’t had the free time to chase leads in between calibrations or core diagnostics.” He gave Garrus an uncharacteristic look, sarcastic and sympathy seeking. “I can only guess he’s hiding deep in Batarian space.”

“Well, it’s your ship. And this business is done with.” Garrus seemed enthusiastic to be on the receiving end of this kind of suggestion. Just like his hunts for Dr. Heart, Sidonis, hell you could even throw Saren in there. He was still blindsided by what Shepard said next.

“As Commander of the Normandy, I’m not about to order us into hostile territory on a personal manhunt. Although you seem up for it, XO Vakarian.” He smiled and started walking back to the shuttle.

“Well, I...wait, what did you say?” He quickly outpaced the Human, exaggerating his body language. Shepard almost felt bad about how easy it was to pull him around like this sometimes.

“Commander Vakarian, there’s a personal matter I was hoping I could discuss with you. It’s about a perpetrator I let get away once, and I just don’t want there to be any distractions for our mission. I was hoping I could ask you to help me look into it.”

* * *

“Alright squad, we need to go in hot. No way we can get an evac unless we make a serious dent and hunker down.” As it turned out, Balak hadn’t been floating around Khar'shan, surrounded by guards and gun batteries. Instead, he was floating around an old Volus cargo ship running slaves and banned genesplicing tech, surrounded by pirates and varren.

Garrus had chosen Grunt for his left flank, who seemed to be appreciating the direct approach employed so far. This was an improvement over his immediate reaction to his battlemaster stepping aside so a Turian could lead. It almost got violent.

So now they were in the lower quarters of this space bucket, making their way to engineering. Garrus had developed a ballsy plan, which was to get on-board and crack open a crate of stolen Alliance military tech. He had remembered the anguish in Balak’s recriminations when they confronted him in the Main Facility. Handing over some leverage on the humans would be too good a bait to pass up. Garrus had even gone as far as orchestrating the sale of the weapons technology, which he’d had Tali rig to track and then shed almost all of the container with the right electric signal. That made it small enough for him to put on his back and walk out with. It didn’t take long for Balak to come running after it, and right into an ambush. So now Shepard had a package of his own, slumped up against the wall, bleeding. He was going to deliver Balak first class, to an Alliance holding facility. Balak had better survive all the gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen in the meantime.

“Too bad Kadian isn’t here to see this go down.” Garrus pressed against the doorway, reloading his HMWSR Master. “I remember he griped about letting this bastard get away for weeks.”

This was typical Garrus. All about results, getting them without compromise, leaving a rubble behind you, and enjoying every minute of it. It didn’t help that he became, frankly, more attractive during a firefight. Maybe there was something to that whole Hierarchy militarism thing. Shepard really did indulge him too much, things he wouldn’t let slide from anyone else. Garrus would make an exceptional Spectre one day.

“Let me take the point, Turian!” Grunt was impatient to bust into the bay and start shooting. The fact that he was asking for permission was a good sign, though.

“Alright, Grunt, have it your way. Shepard, you go in behind and I’ll provide cover.” With a tap of his Omni-tool, Garrus overrode the blast door. Ducking an immediate volley from within, he cycled and returned fire.

“Go go go!”

* * *

“Garrus, I relieve you of command. You’re all dismissed.” Grunt and Jacob gave a nod and a salute respectively, and walked out of the comm room. Garrus had nearly left himself, before Shepard stopped him.

“Hang on. You remember what I asked you on Hagalaz?” Garrus stopped dead.

“Yeah. Haven’t stopped thinking about it actually.” He then turned and walked over to him, his voice earnest. “And all I get out of it, is that the Shadow Broker could never understand my motivations.” Shepard loved the level of conviction, it was refreshing. A soldier might be patriotic, but you only got this when things became much more personal.

“He or anybody else might see me as an aberration in comparison with the rest of C-Sec. But I’m not on your crew to advance a career or spread my renown. My team didn’t die for that in Omega. And the people from Horizon didn’t either.” He turned to leave again.

“So thanks, Shepard. But even as a vigilante, my service is to the people of the galaxy. If I really have so much potential, I should be smart enough to know where to best spend my time.”


End file.
